How Did The Philosophes Change Society

The philosophes changed the way people think and how society was. What was their main idea? The philosophes main idea was to have peace amongst one another. What was their main idea? Educated thinkers such as John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith and Mary Wollstonecraft made it evident we have natural rights. These philosophes all had different opinions on ideas, for example equal rights for women. John Locke believed that all men had natural rights and women are not equal. “Nothing more evident than that creatures of the same species and rank should be equal one amongst another”. John Locke stated in his book that creatures of the same species are equal but he did not believe that women are the same species as men. Since women are not the same species as men, women are not equal or of the …show more content…
He believed that if we all were successful we would have a wealthier society in return, “He intends only his own gain, and he is in this… led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention…” Smith argued that people are easily influenced by others to work towards being wealthy and the economy is this invisible hand he talks about in the quote from his book. Mary Wollstonecraft believed women and men had equal rights and the abilities and it could be brought out if women were educated. “Women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge which is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits as men” unlike the other philosophes, Wollstonecraft believed that women are equal and have the same abilities as men. Although the enlightenment thinkers all had similar ideas on natural rights, but they all were incredibly different in their own ways. But they made us think the way we do, they made people think and evolve as humans and a